Lecture link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPLkkQWnTsi/
Written by: Bhakta Vishnu
The material world as we know is composed of miseries and anxieties of various degrees. According to the progress of the respective civilizations of The Earth, these worries may take new forms depending on the matter at hand. One such recent development is the woe of privacy in this digital world. Whenever we come across a website, or any social media, we are made to accept various cookies and privacy terms for data collection. And most people being unaware of the extent of data being collected, and the motives of those who collect this information, are naturally worried about their data privacy.
Why do these fears of privacy arise in us? How does this feeling of privacy of ours pertain to The Supreme Personality Of God? In other words, what is the data privacy policy of The Lord? We’ll dig deeper into it in this article.
THE REALITY OF DATA PRIVACY IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
People, in general, are afraid of the things that they have no proper grasp of. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, it is said. The digital world we live in avails us of almost all the information we want to know on just a few touch of our fingertips. Wherever we go, whoever we meet, we are constantly being kept in the sight of technology. This is true in almost all the countries of the world. Whenever we access any social media site like for example; when using Facebook, when we create a profile we are agreeing to give access to all your information in case government agencies want them at their disposal, the pages you like, the friend list of yours etc are all kept tabs on by the company. Even with the recent developments prioritizing the users privacy, these updates don’t do much help in relieving people’s safety regarding the privacy policies.
Is this fear of privacy necessary? Is it unnecessary? Well, just like the world we live in, the answer is also just like a mix of the modes of material nature, it’s both necessary and at the same time it is also troublesome. It is troublesome because, not every time can we expect any person or organization who is incharge of this vast database to be fully acting truthfully. In this digital age, data or information is power. When this information can be sold and huge monetary gains can be derived, or the outcome of events like elections, can be predicted or altered, then it becomes an evil. Also the existence of criminals misusing these details for their own personal gains is another evil.
On the other hand, these are also very essential. In any circumstance like for example; In India we have the popular Aadhar card which serves to link every information of a person, or household’s with the different details of their personal, educational, financial, economical backgrounds. By just one click, all of this can be accessed by the government and it helps them to provide better governance or e-governance facilities to every citizen. During the time of pandemics and such emergencies, this proved to be of great importance for tracking the details of citizens being affected with the disease etc.
So it is something that is completely unavoidable and yet something that requires proper and vigilant protection. Where is this leading onto? There isn’t any Fair data policy in this world. The database or the storehouse of all this information can be said as the vital object of value in data privacy. Just as stated above, in this material world there isn’t any single person who can be expected to behave appropriately while keeping such a storehouse of information or power. If they are corrupt, those who are in charge of this, can share this data to any person they wish to if they so wishes.And this can be a great threat to the privacy of people.That is where the glory of The Supreme Lord is, He who is the sole handler of the infinite beings of infinite realities, from the smallest microbe to the largest being He observes everything and everyone from within and outside also. What is his standing in terms of data privacy? How does He manage this vast storehouse of data? We’ll soon find out.
THE DICHOTOMY OF HUMAN MIND
The human mind is very complex, owing to different situations, it may want to do completely different or contrasting things as opposed to what it wants in normal or day to day situations. The same thing can be observed when it comes to data privacy. Normally people want complete data privacy. Whatever they do, they want it to be done completely off the radar if it’s possible to do so. And if they are needed to share their information, or to be monitored while doing any tasks or activities, be it online or offline, they want complete knowledge of why, for what purpose, and who collects the data. They are cautious in sharing any data.
But at the same time if in any other situation, if it’s convenient for them to share their data, in order to get things done, they are willing to share their data without them thinking much about the so called ‘privacy’ of data.
For example, we are reluctant to share much information about ourselves to strangers that we meet in our daily life, but if we want to get something done by them, or when we need any help from them, we are willing to share some information with them. It cannot be done in any other way.
Likewise, most people don’t want to compromise their privacy, but if they are put in an urgent situation, or a situation that may even be endangering them, or their own loved ones’ life, they don’t want any kind of privacy. For example, if we are getting robbed, or if our house is on fire while we are away from home, we wish that we could inform the authorities, or if there’s any way to let the authorities know within seconds, so that they can quickly respond to our situation accordingly. Similarly, a person who is at gunpoint, or who is being kidnapped may also wish that if there was a way to let the policemen know through their minds, or so, they could easily escape from the clutches of the kidnappers. So there’s, depending upon the situation, mixed priorities when it comes to safeguarding their privacy.
The most relatable example of this dichotomy would be when we are praying to God for our desires or wishes, we want him to be completely attentive to what we are saying, so that He can fulfill our desires. But at the same time, when we are doing something that is unethical or unlawful, we want it to be so that He doesn’t observe what we are doing or saying. We pretend that there’s nobody watching us. Such is our nature. On the one hand we wish that He would listen to us, and on the other, we wish that He doesn’t, owing to our convenience.
THE SUPREME PERSONALITY’S PRIVACY POLICY
What is the view of The Lord Of All Universes on the privacy policy? Well, for him privacy is a myth. That’s right, how can we ever put a veil on The Lord’s eyes? He is ever present and eternal, there is nothing in this world without Him. He is the silent witness of our hearts, of every event that has ever happened or about to happen
Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gītā (7.26):
vedāhaṁ samatītāni
vartamānāni cārjuna
bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni
māṁ tu veda na kaścana
O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.
Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead knows each and every detail of all things in creation. Nothing goes unnoticed by Him. Any person or criminal who says that His crimes were unnoticed, is actually deceiving himself when he says so, for he was never unnoticed by The Lord, never once.
The Supreme Lord is present in every single atom, it is said in The Bhagavad-Gītā(13.14):
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat
sarvato ’kṣi-śiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke
sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati
Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.
Thus The Lord being thus situated in the very creation itself is able to know all those things the various life forms do. The things a man does, hides, or even the things they forget themselves, or suppresses deep in their memories, He knows. Such is the power of Lord Krishna. In the ordinary world, there may be surveillance by CCTV and other security cameras, but there’s no perfect surveillance possible by any governments. Even if such means were there, it may take a long time to extract the data from the various databases of different departments of government, and in the process they may even encounter a lot of opposition to receive the data if it is a private entity, other than the government. But when it comes to Him, there’s no delay in his accessing the database, and executing the results or judgment, there’s no time delay. He gives a fair and equal treatment to all and rules the entire creation with these absolute and fair laws, subjected to all. How does He maintain this law and order as opposed to the governments in the material world? We’ll see this next.
LORD KṚṢNA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM
In the material world, as we discussed earlier, there are a lot of red tapes that need to be overcome in order to even lay hands on the right data. Even with the availability of the necessary data, the enforcement of justice is another trial that is often needed to be rectified in a big democratic country like India. We have often heard of citizens, normal people who have approached different courts, and authorities and still remain to have not received proper justice, lamenting the judicial systems. What to think of the plight of the citizens when the same authority becomes corrupt, who should be protecting the interests of the aggrieved. Take for an example, The false espionage charges held against the former ISRO aerospace engineer, Nambi Narayanan, he fought against his own state for 15+ years to get a chance at justice, the same government who is supposed to safeguard its citizens from wrongdoings were neglecting to pay him compensation for his torture at the hands of their own policemen, and were themself protecting the criminals. Justice here is literally blind.
Such is the state of affairs of the modern world’s judicial system, which fails to deliver proper justice to the citizens, and even unmatched are the number of courts, and judges to cater justice to the rising cases in the country. Even before the pandemic, cases were already accumulated in courts that enough courts and judges were not available to meet the demand, not to mention the cases now remaining after the great intervals due to pandemic. It is worth noting that all the technological advancements haven’t added much contribution to the enforcement of justice. But in the absolute purview of The Supreme Lord, He Himself ensures the absolute order, even the judgments of the judges in material world are not the final verdict, but his will and law itself gives the final verdict, no one can escape his law and order. We are all bound by it knowingly, or unknowingly.
The law of karma is what ensures the enforcement of justice in the whole creation. Whatever we do, we are impacted by it. Every action leaves these impressions in our minds that carries a certain result and with it moves the wheel of creation. What forms we have taken now, how we live, what forms we take tomorrow, what we do are all under the guidance of his Law of Karma. Even if the whole world has forsaken an innocent man, justice will be delivered by The Lord both to the guilty and the innocent. Thus there is no escape from his law, it is said that even The Lord Brahma cannot escape from the rope of Karma. Only The Supreme Lord Sri can save someone, if He so wishes, from all kinds of Karmaphala or fruitive results. So, in the end, what we can do is to rectify all the mistakes we are making and what we have already done in the past. When we fine tune our lives according to the instructions of The Lord, we can be free from all miseries.
DATA SHARING POLICY OF THE LORD
As stated above, our data is being shared whether we like it or not, whether it’s with our explicit consent or not, by various government, and non government agencies for both good, and crooked intentions. When it comes to the spiritual plane, our data is also being shared by Lord Sri Kṛṣna. But contrary to the material plane, here the data is shared only with the demi-gods concerning that particular matter. For example; the data being shared to Lord Yama is only transmitted to him; for Lord Indra it is regarding his department only and no other person is involved. Not only that, but the data being shared is only the necessary data for them to do their jobs. No data is given out that is not necessary for doing their function. And this data that is being transmitted by The Lord, to the demi-god is completely secure as it is done by paramatma feature of The Lord, so, there’s no eavesdropping or unwanted hacking like here in the material world, by any external entities in the spiritual world.
The data sharing is not just limited to the demi-gods, but enough data is being provided to each living being by various other forms. In the animal world, we know there are many animals, and birds who have a wide range of sensing capacities and abilities. Some animals like dogs can be seen having sensing ability to see, and hear beyond normal human abilities. Most birds have abilities like a GPS system, embedded into their senses to traverse long distances in search of food, and shelter. Some of these animals can be even seen evacuating or acting restless long before a heavy storm, or an approaching tsunami. For example, it is mostly observed that cows are able to predict an upcoming storm through the changes in moisture levels. So The Lord has enabled these functions within animals to help them in crisis.
Such sharing of data can be found in our own scriptures too, think about all the shāstrās and purānās, our ancestors, and The Lord Himself has given us innumerable methods, and instructions through varieties of these stories on how to live properly, how to reach The Lord’s abode etc. Such incomparable wisdom that has been passed down by traditional systems gives us a hint in this samsārasāgara to reach God, and like a boat in the rough sea, these enable us to cross our samsārasāgara. On the more individual level, The Lord has given us a glimpse into our own lives, by the astrological sciences, it enables us to see a little more than the apparent existence, it enables us to understand our possible future, and already passed lives, thereby giving us a better understanding of the present conditions of our lives, in order to better align our lives with The Supreme Lord’s will.
CONCLUSION
By knowing this truth that He is with us as the eternal witness, who knows everything, we can be freed from all ill deeds and fix our mind and heart on Him always. Such a person need not be worried about anything, for He is always in the Kṛṣna conscious mood. Otherwise, when we act like He is not there or when we conveniently forgets His presence, we are then in great peril. One who knows that nothing can be hidden from His eyesight, and lives accordingly is a great devotee indeed.
